Blog for the week of 11/17/14

Eggs By Jerry Spinelli

Pages #106-143

Prompt:What surprises you in this story? Explain why.

        One thing that surprises me is that Primrose hates her mother. She really hates her. I understand that her mother is a little weird but she is too. However they are weird in different ways. It just surprises how much she hates her, like everything about her mom she hates! I just don't understand it. I feel that Primrose is more the mother not the daughter. For example she sees reality more than her mother. Also her mother is always taking her things, it usually in reverse. I just thinks it crazy how much Primrose hates her!

        Another thing that surprises me is that David won't talk to his Grandmother. If my mother died I would talk to my Grandmother. I can understand a little bit why he doesn't want to talk to her because he misses his mother so much and doesn't want anyone to replace her. I would think after a while he would stop ignoring her, but he hasn't. I think its sad and surprising. 

        What is also surprising is how David's dad is never home. I know that he has to go to places for his job, but he left his son with his dead mom all alone basically. I would think ever since his mom died his dad would be there for him. I think it is also surprising because he hasn't seemed to be home for the entire part of the book that I have been reading. It said he was home every once and a while but he hasn't come back in like months! 

Introduction Video

Blog for the week of 11/11/14

Eggs By Jerry Spinelli

Pages #66-106

Prompt: Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.

          In Eggs Primrose hates her mother. She never wants to be like her. Her dad left her     when she was little but she swears she remembers him. This affects her friendship with David. She and David always fight, but they always make up in the end. One fight ends really badly. This is an incident that shows she really cares about her father. In the text it says, "And then the boy said it: "Hey, maybe he's your dad!" The girl was on him in a flash, pinning him to the sofa, mashing his face into the cushion..."My father is not a bum on the street! Don't ever mention my father again!" This shows me she cares about her father a lot.

         Another example is that David's mother is dead. When David's mother died he never listened to his grandmother who was taking care of him. He never broke the rules but he just doesn't listen to them in a way so he won't be breaking them. The incident of David's mother dying caused him to do this. I know this because in the text it says, "David sauntered down the street. No one, not grandmothers, not anyone, could touch him. His mother's death made him invincible."

      David's mother's death also made him terrified of falling. His mother died from falling so it made him scared of it. This incident from the text shows me that, "Somebody pushed another big kid. The kid went lurching, his legs wheeling as if on ice - as if on a wet floor - and for a moment David felt his heart stop. That was how his mother died - from a slip." This shows me he is terrified of falling.

 

         

         

Edgar Allan Poe Reflection Blog

Edgar Allan Poe Reflection

        Before doing research and learning about Edgar Allan Poe, I didn't really know much. I only knew that he was a famous poet. However, after all the work and research in this lesson I know a lot more than before. One example is I know that he had a hard childhood, his parents died, he was separated from his siblings, etc. I now know he was also very broke when he was in college. Poe couldn't afford the tuition and didn't finish college. I can go on and on about this, but I'll stop there.

         Edgar had a rough life and he had a lot of problems that people can still have today. An example of this is: Poe was in debt and couldn't continue college because of it. A lot people in college can easily have that problem. Another problem he had was his foster dad wanting to force him into the tobacco business. I know this sounds like it wouldn't be a common problem, however lots of people's parents force them into schools and jobs they don't want to do. For instance someone could be a doctor and not like it because they were forced into it by their parents. Another example would be a kid forced into a very fancy private college and study something they don't want to because their parents are forcing them.

         Edgar Allan Poe did also have some problems that aren't that common in the 21st century. His parents had died when he was very young age because of tuberculosis. Having both your parents die because of the same disease is definitely not a common problem. His parents were also traveling actors and broke. Not a lot of people are traveling actors anymore.

          Poe's life definitely affected his writing. His stories are about death, and suspense, and misery. Poe's life was full of death because of his parents. The fact that his parents died affected his life forever and I feel he puts that into his writing. He was cheated on, he was in debt, he was orphaned, etc. I feel he put all those feeling and emotions in his writing. I think the reason he wanted to write so bad was to let his emotions out.

     

Blog for the week of 11/3/14

Eggs By Jerry Spinelli

Pages #3-66

Prompt: Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be read people)? Why or why not?

         

           I think the main character David is very realistic. There are several kids his age that have lost their mother to some sort of accident. David is a little peculiar, however lots of kids can be a little weird. They can act weird especially if they lost an important person in their lives. David is also anti-social. Lots of people can be anti-social. He is also a bit of a rebel. He doesn't break the rules but he doesn't necessarily follow them either. Again, lots of kids can be like this. 

          I also think the other main character Primrose is a little realistic too. She is not that normal, she lives in an old van in her mother's driveway which is her "bedroom", she roller skates everywhere, and she also goes trash picking late at night to make money. So she isn't normal, but she is slightly realistic. Primrose doesn't "like" her mother, which a lot of teenage girls think about their mothers. So, that is realistic. I feel she isn't the most realistic but she is slightly.

         Madame Duffee (Primrose's mother) I think is the least realistic character. She is a fortune teller that tells everyone she sees "they will have a long and happy life". She wears toe rings, dresses strangely, etc. I know there are fortune tellers and people out there that are like this but very few people do. In  her home every wall is covered in rugs and carpets. Every inch. This is very strange and unrealistic.